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MP 1,1-5,1 MacPro5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (10.13/10.14 BootROM upgrades instructions thread)
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I am going to update the firmware on my cMP to allow booting off an NVMe M.2 SSD in High Sierra. To do so, I understand that I need to install the firmware using Mojave. My question is this: will the Mojave 10.14.5 installer attempt to reformat my HFS drive to APFS before it installs the firmware? I assume that it will not, that it will first update the firmware, then ask to install Mojave. Please advise. I do NOT want to reformat any drives to APFS or to install Mojave at this time; I only want to update the firmware to enable NVMe boot support. As an aside, it sure would be a lot easier and less confusing if Apple would simply allow straightforward standalone firmware updates as it did in the past rather than requiring they be handled during an OS install. Sigh.
If you close the Mojave installer after upgrading the BootROM, no changes will be made to your drives.
Or at least not make the required set of installers almost impossible to download.
Thank you much, tsialex. I thought that would be the case, but I've lost a considerable amount of trust in Apple these days. IMHO, Apple has significantly declined in a lot of ways, albeit what most would consider small things. But the devil is in the details, and that's where Apple falters today. That, and the greed that has permeated it. I never would have thought Apple would become the very corporate machine that it once railed against. Apple was so much more fun in the days it dared to fly a pirate flag over its campus. 
Thanks to the advice here I got a MSI RX 560, the one Apple recommends. I installed it, booted fine in Sierra, I then rebooted from the Mojave SSD but nothing, just a black screen. I installed Mojave, after High Sierra, as recommended, my BootRom is 144.0.0.0. But that was with the old card (R9 270X). What else can i try - it should work with that card, right? Do I need to install Mojave again, with this card installed?
Ok, so I reread that post and followed up the note about Air Display kexts. That indeed was the problem, and fixed by deleting them. Excellent work. thanks again for all the help. Took a few days of fiddling around, but got there in the end.
How can I force the firmware update without install OS?
Mi wife has a MacPro 5.1 2012 with Mojave 10.14.5 and firmware 141.0.0.0... 2 days ago I upgraded the graphic card (remove the gtx680 and installed RX580 8Gb) and from this moment I have to reset a PRAM to boot system... If I don't reset PRAM, never boot, system stay on a eternal black screen after the chime sound.
I try to follow the instructions of the first post for rx580 with black screen, but I don't have these extensions...
The processor is a W3680 (3,33Ghz 6 core mono processor) and I think that will be related because 144.0.0.0 solve an issue with those processors...
Can I put the 144 firmware in some system dir to do the upgrade?
Mi wife has a MacPro 5.1 2012 with Mojave 10.14.5 and firmware 141.0.0.0... 2 days ago I upgraded the graphic card (remove the gtx680 and installed RX580 8Gb) and from this moment I have to reset a PRAM to boot system... If I don't reset PRAM, never boot, system stay on a eternal black screen after the chime sound.
I try to follow the instructions of the first post for rx580 with black screen, but I don't have these extensions...
The processor is a W3680 (3,33Ghz 6 core mono processor) and I think that will be related because 144.0.0.0 solve an issue with those processors...
Can I put the 144 firmware in some system dir to do the upgrade?
If you download the full installer instead of updating, the firmware will go from 141 to 144.
I have the same Mac as your wife, with the same graphics card en Xeon 6 core processor. It works.
In case you want updating the firmware in High Sierra, simply run the firmware updater when it is asked and quit the installer afterwards. But you have to do the firmware update from a disk in an internal slave, not from a PCI SSD.
I have the same Mac as your wife, with the same graphics card en Xeon 6 core processor. It works.
In case you want updating the firmware in High Sierra, simply run the firmware updater when it is asked and quit the installer afterwards. But you have to do the firmware update from a disk in an internal slave, not from a PCI SSD.
You didn't need to replace the GTX 680 for the firmware upgrade, it's a METAL supported GPU.
No, it's not how firmware upgrades work. You have to use the Mojave 10.14.5 full installer to do the upgrade.
Check the first post, all your doubts are answered there.
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I know it... Perhaps I don't write clearly...
I did the upgrade to have a better graphics card, not for the update.
I was read the first post before ask here... I don't want that three users explain me again what is wrote
I try to upgrade with the last Mojave 10.14.5 full installer (like I did with my 5.1 of the signature) but in my wife's computer didn't appear the message of firmware update, try to install again Mojave over the current Mojave installation...
For this reason my question is if exist other method of upgrade the firmware, for example putting the firmware files in root, power off and push power-on button till flash the led...
Like I said before, that's not how firmware upgrades work and what you describe don't work with Macs.I know it... Perhaps I don't write clearly...
I did the upgrade to have a better graphics card, not for the update.
I was read the first post before ask here... I don't want that three users explain me again what is wrote
I try to upgrade with the last Mojave 10.14.5 full installer (like I did with my 5.1 of the signature) but in my wife's computer didn't appear the message of firmware update, try to install again Mojave over the current Mojave installation...
For this reason my question is if exist other method of upgrade the firmware, for example putting the firmware files in root, power off and push power-on button till flash the led...
Mojave 10.14.5 full Mac App Store installer will always require a BootROM upgrade to 144.0.0.0.0 if you have an earlier version. If you have a BootROM earlier than 144.0.0.0.0 and your Mojave installer don't ask for a firmware upgrade, you don't have the current Mojave installer.
I'll download again... Perhaps I delete the 144.0.0.0 Mojave installer version and keep the previous version... strange because I upgrade to 144 my macPro, but possible
Thanks!
What firmware version is currently installed on your machine? I looked back through a few posts, but couldn’t find where you mentioned it.
The full installer is over 6GB. If it's anything less than that you don't have the full installer.
It's challenging to determine this before you download the installer. But after the download is complete it should be approximately this size.
The installer that I have is 6.04Gb...
This is the computer's world and how you can make yourself crazy... I was power of the Mac Pro, turn on again and run a last time the installer before download it again and... magic! Firmware upgrade...
Why? I don't know... How? I don't know... Works? Yes! Ok, don't touch then....
This is the computer's world and how you can make yourself crazy... I was power of the Mac Pro, turn on again and run a last time the installer before download it again and... magic! Firmware upgrade...
Why? I don't know... How? I don't know... Works? Yes! Ok, don't touch then....
also in this setup nothing stands in the way of a bootROM update +g*
![IMG_5296.jpg]( "IMG_5296.jpg")
What the heck......where did your case go...
all are just spare parts and test parts for my two cMPs
and was only built to flash my two replacement backplanes
So I guess this is the right place to talk, is it safe to go direct from MP51.007F.B03 to 144 if I’m already running Mojave? The high Sierra installer won’t run so can’t use that directly, do I need to get an install of high Sierra to run it from then go back? Is there any risk going straight to 144 or will it just not work?
You risked a lot doing this with a MP4,1>5,1. Netkas forum method overwrite the BootBlock and makes impossible to use Firmware Restoration CD.
No one should upgrade from a pre MP51.0089.B00 to 1xx.0.0.0.0 BootROMs.
DUDE - that's inspirational. I'm gonna do something similar - I've been wondering how to cram certain new technologies into my case. You've flipped my problem on its head. Get RID of the case and build the dream. I'll take photos when i'm done - SWEEEEEET!